


a little bit of humble, a little bit of cautious

by kamunamis



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, OT3, Polyamory, Pro Volleyball Player Kageyama Tobio, established kindaichi yuutarou/kunimi akira
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26273530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamunamis/pseuds/kamunamis
Summary: After finding out that Kindaichi and Kunimi are his new neighbors, Kageyama decides to repair their old friendship.or, Kageyama is an angsty gay yearning bitch.
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio & Kindaichi Yuutarou & Kunimi Akira, Kageyama Tobio/Kindaichi Yuutarou/Kunimi Akira
Comments: 3
Kudos: 193





	a little bit of humble, a little bit of cautious

**Author's Note:**

> i've been wanting to write a fic featuring the kitaiichi trio for a while now. this is just me projecting onto tobio and an attempt to wax poetry about kunimi,,, your honor, i love him.
> 
> thanks to [tara](https://itsmyusualweeb.tumblr.com) for the beta read.

It’s a typical and ordinary afternoon when Tobio runs into Kindaichi and Kunimi for the first time in years, ever since middle school when he was known as the King of the Court. Tobio doesn’t expect to see them on his way home from the grocery store, neither does he expect to see them living in the apartment  _ right next door. _

Tobio had moved in the other day. There was no way for him to know that they were going to be his new neighbors.

Both Tobio and Kindaichi go wide-eyed when they see each other. Kunimi could care less. He yawns and leans his head on Kindaichi’s shoulder.

Kindaichi clears his throat. “Kageyama.”

“Kindaichi,” Tobio says in return. “I - um - I didn’t expect to see you here.” He wonders if they still hate him as much as they used to.

Kindaichi nods. “Likewise.”

They stand in awkward silence for a bit. Kindaichi and Kunimi avoid eye contact with him. Tobio fiddles with the handle of his grocery bag.

“I’ll see you later,” Kindaichi mumbles, breaking the silence.

Tobio nods. “See you around.”

Kunimi and Kindaichi unlock the door to their apartment and head inside. Tobio stands there for a moment until he remembers that he’s holding a carton of milk and that he should put it in the fridge.

He fumbles with the keys for a moment before opening the door. Tobio nearly trips on a few boxes before putting the carton in the fridge.

“Stupid, stupid fucking boxes,” he mutters to himself as if he isn’t the one who put them there. Tobio kicks the boxes to the side and decides to deal with them later.

(Which isn’t at all what he told himself the other day.)

Tobio sits down on the old and tattered couch and fishes for the remote that has somehow already ended up in between the couch cushions after two days of living here. He huffs in frustration before turning off the TV.

He doesn’t end up seeing Kindaichi or Kunimi for a few days, but he can hear them through the walls. Usually, he can hear Kindaichi humming along to the radio while there’s a sizzling frying pan in the background. Sometimes he hears Kunimi complaining about how hot the weather is this time around, or how loud the customers were at work. Other times, he hears them laughing together, enjoying each other’s company.

It’s awfully domestic, and Tobio likes how they’re still the same people he met all those years ago even if they’re much older now. He may or may not be slightly jealous that they’re still close with each other, but he shakes the feeling away.

Kunimi knocks on Tobio’s door one evening, offering a dish to him.

Tobio bows. “Thank you.”

“It was Yuutarou’s idea,” Kunimi deadpans, “Housewarming gift or whatever.”

Tobio looks at him confused. “Yuutarou?”

“Kindaichi,” Kunimi answers simply as if it were obvious.

Tobio’s mouth forms an ‘o’ shape.  _ I didn’t think you and Kindaichi were on a first-name basis,  _ he wants to say, but he doesn’t. He hasn’t been part of their lives for so long, he doesn’t know what happened between then and now.

He wants to ask about their relationship, ask if they’re together even though it’s obvious that they are more than friends with the sounds he’s heard from next door, and the way Kindaichi and Kunimi’s hands are interlaced almost every time they run into each other, the way that Kunimi looks so full of life nowadays.

Oh well then. He’s happy that Kindaichi and Kunimi are happy with each other.

“See you soon,” Kunimi answers, and Tobio nods.

He closes the door behind Kunimi, kicking it with his foot since his hands are full. He opens the pot on the kitchen island and grabs a spoon from the drawer to taste it.

Mapo Tofu. Not bad at all. He remembers when Kindaichi and his mom would feed the volleyball team after matches or after games. Kindaichi was always excited whenever people tasted his cooking. 

Tobio returns to Kindaichi and Kunimi’s apartment an hour later and returns the pot to them.

“I liked it,” Tobio says when Kindaichi asks for a review.

Kindaichi smiles. “Great! Hopefully, I can cook it again for you sometime, if you want?”

“Yeah, sounds great, thanks,” Tobio answers, smiling back.

He’s reassured after all that Kindaichi and Kunimi don’t hate him.

Although it seems like their past is water under the bridge, Tobio hopes to apologize to them. It wasn’t fair of him to lash out after his grandfather died, even if it was the only way he could cope.

Tobio looks over at the photo frame of him, his sister, and his grandfather sitting on top of the shelf. He wonders what his grandfather thinks watching down on him. Tobio trusts that he would be happy with where he is now, making amends and playing for a professional team, following in his footsteps.

He sheds a tear and wipes it away before heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

-

Tobio runs into Kunimi in the hallway after coming home from a run one evening. His forehead is dripping with sweat and he’s out of breath.

“Kunimi,” Tobio says, slowing down and waving at him.

Kunimi turns to face him and waves back. “Oh, Kageyama. Hi.”

“How was your day?” Tobio asks, attempting to make small talk.

“It’s good, how about yours?”

They end up talking for a while until Kunimi gets a ping on his phone and he checks the time. He clears his throat. “Hey, I just realized, we should… exchange numbers,” he suggests. “In case of emergencies. Since we’re next-door neighbors and all.”

Tobio nods, although he’s not entirely sure what kind of emergency would require him to call his neighbors instead of the local authorities. Kunimi and Tobio hand each other their phones and input their numbers into the new contact.

It feels weird holding Kunimi’s phone. Tobio has never been one for technology, he still has the same phone from three years ago, with a slight dent on the bottom left corner and a scratch on the screen from when he dropped it while racing with Hinata. Kunimi’s phone is bigger and doesn’t have a home button. The keyboard doesn’t vibrate when he presses on it. The power button is on the side and not on top. He tries to hold it tightly, not wanting to break it.

(Hinata likes making fun of him whenever he doesn’t know how to type. Perhaps Tobio should ask him about it the next time they get to see each other.)

“Yuutarou says hi,” Kunimi quips while Tobio is typing.

“Hi,” Tobio deadpans. “Where is he? You’re always attached at the hip.”

Kunimi laughs. “Not  _ always.  _ And he’s at work.”

“Oh.”

Kunimi sticks his tongue out. “Yeah,  _ oh.  _ People work, unlike you, Mr. Pro Volleyball Player with ten sponsors.”

“Eight sponsors,” Tobio corrects.

Kunimi mock-glares at him. “Still proves my point.” He takes a deep breath. “Anyway, do you want to come over tonight? We could watch a movie or something, hang out like old times.”

“Are you sure about that?” Tobio quirks his brow.

Kunimi laughs. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” He punches Tobio in the arm, causing him to yelp. “I’ll see you later tonight.” He gives a faint wave before heading into his apartment.

Tobio heads into his own apartment. He looks down at his phone, in which it’s still unlocked - showing two new contacts under ‘K,’ one of which has a picture attached of  _ someone  _ sticking his tongue out.

(The only contact that has a picture, since Tobio doesn’t know how to do, well, anything on his phone other than calling.)

Kunimi texts him later that night, telling him that Kindaichi is home now.

_ I know,  _ Tobio texts back,  _ I can hear you two through the wall. _

Kunimi leaves him on read and Tobio heads next door. Kindaichi is happy to see him, and the three pile onto the couch together with Kunimi hogging all of the popcorn, of course.

In one of the ad breaks, Tobio clears his throat and apologizes. To both of them.

“I, um. I’m sorry. For middle school,” Tobio says hesitantly.

Kindaichi pats him on the back, and Kunimi gives him a soft smile. “Don’t worry about it. We were kids.”

Tobio is thankful for that. He feels his cheeks grow warmer, and a sudden tightness in his chest, but he brushes it off.

The movie resumes, and they continue watching, playfully throwing popcorn at each other and making fun of the storyline. They laugh until they’re clutching their stomachs, and Tobio couldn’t be happier, spending time with them and enjoying each other’s company.

(The tight feeling comes back quite a few times throughout the night. Tobio doesn’t pay attention to it.)

When the movie is over, they say goodbye to each other. Kindaichi gives Tobio one of those weird one-arm-bro-hug things, and only then does he realize what he’s feeling -

He has a  _ crush  _ on Kindaichi.

Tobio doesn’t sleep much that night. He tosses and turns, feeling immensely guilty for liking Kindaichi when he’s in a relationship with Kunimi. He’d already hurt them once, he’s not going to that to them again. Then, his mind supplies him with the idea of dating Kunimi. Tobio feels like retching when he realizes that he’s not averse to dating him either.

Tobio tosses his pillow to the side, knowing he’s going to have to pick it up the next morning. He decidedly does not care. He feels like the world’s shittiest friend right now for even thinking of the idea of liking Kunimi and Kindaichi.

Sure, those are the people he’s spent most of his time with, and spending copious amounts of time with someone is bound to breed  _ some  _ sort of feelings. Never did Tobio think it would be romantic feelings.

When the clock strikes five in the morning, he decides it’s useless to try and sleep. Tobio starts his morning workout routine in his living room, drowning his thoughts out with heavy alt music in the hope that his feelings will go away or that he was just thinking those things because he was lucid and sleepless.

Tobio’s manager calls and Tobio hits the ‘decline’ button several times. If his manager wants to talk to him that badly, he can leave a message or text him.

He contemplates ghosting Kunimi and Kindaichi, but then he realizes that’s also a shitty move.

Tobio shakes his head and decides to deal with this problem another time.

He eventually does fall asleep sometime after lunch, only waking up to a phone call, his cell phone vibrating on the coffee table, teetering on the edge. Tobio reaches over to pick it up before it falls. He answers the call, not bothering to see who it is.

“H’llo?” he mumbles.

“It’s Kindaichi,” the voice on the other line says.

Tobio promptly sits up, nearly choking on his own spit. “Oh, hi, what’s up?”

“Do you want to grab dinner with us?” Kindaichi asks, cutting to the chase. “I’m too lazy to cook.”

Tobio mulls it over. Dinner with Kindaichi and Kunimi sounds better than eating three-day-old leftovers. “Yeah, sure.”

(He’s not very good at buying food for himself. But, he’s still healthy, so that’s a plus.)

Considering that Kindaichi and Kunimi have been here longer than he has, it’s in his best interest to let them show him around and take him to all of the good places to eat. He doesn’t want to end up like dumbass Hinata, who got food poisoning only a week after moving to Brazil. Apparently, he ate some sort of seafood at a sketchy restaurant.

He heads out of the apartment and stands in the hallway until Kindaichi appears from his doorway.

“Where’s Kunimi?” Tobio asks.

“Getting ready. You know how slow he is,” Kindaichi says, waving it off.

Kunimi comes out a few minutes later, his hair damp. He smells clean and fruity. It’s probably the body wash or soap that he used. Either way, it’s a fitting scent.

_ Wait, what the fuck are you doing smelling him?  _ Tobio thinks to himself. He ignores the thought.

“Ready to go?” Kunimi asks, and Tobio nods. The three pile into Kindaichi’s car, and Tobio sits in the back row. Kindaichi turns on the radio and fiddles with the stations until he finds something. He and Kunimi sing along, even though the song is in English, and Tobio joins in.

It’s another reminder of how awfully domestic their relationship is, how seamlessly they get along together nowadays. Like somehow, Tobio finally fits into the puzzle.

He’s once again reminded of his feelings toward them, and he feels like his head is going to explode if he keeps thinking about it. But, he knows that it’s a secret. That Kunimi and Kindaichi are in love with  _ each other,  _ and probably wouldn’t be happy with Tobio liking both of them.

In the blink of an eye, they’re at the restaurant together. Kindaichi calls for a table of three, and the waitress ushers them to the open table.

Tobio sits across from Kunimi and Kindaichi and opens the menu in front of him.

“Kindaichi, can you read it to me?” Kunimi says, holding his menu out to Kindaichi.

Kindaichi sighs and takes it from Kunimi, reading off of it.

“I think you’ll like this one,” Kindaichi says, a few moments later pointing to the dish in question.

Kunimi nods. “Tobio, have you picked anything yet?”

Tobio shakes his head. “I don’t know! Don’t rush me.”

“Maybe we should share? The platter is big enough anyway,” Kunimi suggests. “I don’t eat a lot.”

Kindaichi and Tobio look at each other, nodding in agreement. Well, it certainly saves Tobio the distress of picking a dish when he can hardly understand what half of these terms mean. The diagram makes the dish look good anyway.

The waitress comes along and Kindaichi orders for them. She nods and takes their menus from them before heading back to the kitchen.

She comes back twenty minutes later with the food, and they dig in.

Afterward, they walk down the street together before heading home. Kindaichi and Kunimi are holding hands, and Tobio has to fight the urge to just  _ lean in  _ and grab Kunimi’s other hand.

Tobio wonders if this is how Yamaguchi felt whenever he was with Tsukishima, before Tsukishima finally got his shit together and asked Yamaguchi on a date.

“We should play volleyball together again sometime,” Tobio blurts out. From the look on their faces, he thinks  _ oh no, they’re upset with him, and his hard work of trying to reconcile with them has gone to waste. Bad idea. _

Instead, Kindaichi laughs.

“You’re on a professional team. We haven’t played in years. There’s no way we can measure up to you,  _ King,”  _ he says.

“Well, we don’t have to play  _ now,”  _ Tobio huffs. “We can play when we’re old or whatever.”

Tobio looks for any hint of malice or resentment, but there isn’t. Kindaichi and Kunimi are smiling. It’s been a long time since he’s seen them smiling and laughing with him, instead of  _ at  _ him.

It’s the first time Tobio associates the word ‘king’ with a positive memory.

He accidentally brushes his hand against Kunimi’s, and his heart suddenly beats faster. When Tobio turns to look at Kunimi, it seems as if he hadn’t noticed at all.

Shit, maybe Tobio has a problem.

When he gets home, Tobio scrolls down to find Hinata’s number and presses the call button.

“What the hell are you doing calling at seven o’clock in the morning, huh, Bakayama?” Hinata grumbles. “You’re lucky you’re my best friend.”

Shit, he forgot about time differences. Oh well, Hinata is awake anyway.

“I need your help,” Tobio says, “I think I have a crush.”

Hinata is silent on the other end, and Tobio thinks that the call went dead, only for Hinata to laugh moments later.

“Oi, Boke, what are you laughing at?” he growls.

“Nothing, nothing.” Hinata can barely contain his laughter. “You? Having a crush? On who?”

Tobio huffs. “Some friends from Kitaiichi. You might remember them. I think you called one of them Shallot-head.”

Hinata laughs at him. “Are you pulling my leg?”

“No!” Tobio says, at a higher volume. He clears his throat. “No. I’m not pulling your leg. Just help me out, Boke.”

“Fine, fine. Just tell them how you feel,” Hinata suggests.

Tobio rolls his eyes. “No,” he says firmly. “Any other ideas?”

“Hey! That’s what worked for Tooru and I!” Hinata whines.

Tobio fake-retches. Hinata and Oikawa are so sickeningly in love. He’d never expected Hinata and Oikawa to be a couple, but then Hinata moved to Brazil and somehow they reunited. When Tobio visited them for a weekend, he saw how close they’ve become. He’ll never admit it, not in a million years, but Oikawa and Hinata are good for each other.

He considers Hinata’s advice. Tobio supposes that Hinata is right since he’s the one that has a boyfriend in the first place.

“So, anyway,” Hinata says, changing the subject, “What’s new with you?”

They stay on the phone for a bit, talking about their daily lives until Hinata says he’s going to get brunch.

“Grand King says hi,” Hinata adds. “Bye, Bakayama.”

Tobio grumbles. “Screw you. Bye.”

“That’s no way to treat your senpai,” Oikawa says in the background, in his annoying, high pitched voice.

Tobio rolls his eyes before shutting his phone off and tossing it to the side of his bed. He knows he’s going to regret leaving it uncharged when he wakes up the next morning, but he’s exhausted and he wants to sleep.

He wakes up the next morning with a headache, but he pops a Tylenol and heads to training at the gym.

-

Tobio thinks about confessing through a letter. But then he remembers that his handwriting is ridiculously messy and nearly failed Japanese in high school because his kanji were all unreadable.

To this day, he still can’t write properly. He’s not even sure he knows the characters for Kindaichi and Kunimi’s names. Writing a letter is out of the question.

(This is what he gets for skipping college entirely.)

He thinks about confessing through a gift, but then he realizes that he doesn’t know what either of them would want. Tobio wonders if he’s reading all of this wrong - that Kindaichi and Kunimi don’t like him like that after all.

Eventually, Tobio does build up his courage to confess. Tobio knocks on their door one evening and hears Kunimi and Kindaichi bickering over who has to open the door.

Kunimi opens the door, yawning and half-asleep. His hair is tousled, sticking out a bit. Tobio’s traitorous heart palpitates. Kindaichi is standing right behind him, his tank-top showing off his toned, muscled arms.

“Kageyama, what, I was taking a nap,” Kunimi complains.

Tobio shifts uncomfortably. “I can come back some other time, go finish your nap,” he says.

“No, no, it’s fine, Akira needs to wake up anyway,” Kindaichi reassures him. “What do you need?”

Okay, Tobio has always been a dumbass, that is not new information. But, he didn’t plan this far ahead. The most important step of the plan, and he hadn’t planned it.

“I kind of… no, definitely, like you? Both of you?” Tobio answers nervously, blurting it out.  _ Fuck, this is where it all goes downhill.  _ “Yeah, I like you guys a lot, and I like hanging out with you and you guys have been nice to me, and uh.” Tobio can’t stop running his mouth.

“So, yeah? I like you guys?”

Tobio’s cheeks feel like they’re on fire. He suddenly realizes that he just poured his whole heart out and he’s still standing in the doorway. “Shit,” he curses under his breath.

Kunimi and Kindaichi laugh slightly. “Come inside.”

Tobio nervously follows them into the living room. Kindaichi and Kunimi sit on the couch, and Tobio awkwardly sits next to them.

“So, I, um.” Tobio blows a raspberry, realizing he still doesn’t know what to say.  _ Stop putting your foot in your mouth,  _ he reminds himself.

Kindaichi waves him off. “Kageyama, I… I didn’t know you felt that way about us. But actually, we’re - ” He points to himself and Kunimi, “We’re glad that you said something.”

Tobio furrows his brow, confused. “Huh?”

“We like you too, dumbass,” Kindaichi says flatly, with Kunimi snickering next to him.

Tobio sighs in relief knowing that Kindaichi and Kunimi didn’t have a bad reaction to it. It suddenly hits them that  _ oh, shit, they like me too. _

He splutters, unsure of what to do or say next. This is entirely uncharted territory for him.

Kunimi gets up from the couch and moves over to Tobio’s side. “Yeah. Why else did we ask you out to dinner?”

Tobio blushes. It’s easy to get him flustered. “How was I supposed to know that was a date?!”

Kindaichi and Kunimi laugh.

“It’s okay, that won’t happen next time.” Kindaichi smiles at Tobio. “Now we can take you on real dates,  _ boyfriend.” _

Kunimi cups Tobio’s cheeks and plants a kiss on his lip.

“Shit, Kunimi! I wanted to kiss him first!” Kindaichi groans.

Kunimi simply sticks his tongue out playfully and continues kissing Tobio. Kindaichi does get to kiss him too, eventually.

The three end up cuddling on the couch together that night. Tobio is surprised that it fits the three of them.

-

Their relationship has a slow start.

Tobio thinks it’s like teaching a kid how to ride a bicycle. Although in this case, it’s more of a tricycle.

_ But tricycles are sturdier,  _ he reminds himself. 

Either way, their relationship has a slow start. They’re learning how to work with each other. Kindaichi and Kunimi are getting used to having a third person in their relationship while Tobio is getting used to having not one, but two boyfriends.

It’s a struggle to try to call them by their given names when Tobio has gotten so used to calling them by their family names ever since they met. Kunimi usually laughs at him when he stumbles on ‘Yuutarou.’

(“You know you can call me ‘Yuu,’ or you can just call me ‘Kindaichi, it’s fine,” Yuutarou said.

Tobio glared at him. “Shut up! I’m trying! I’m your boyfriend, I’m supposed to know what your given name is.”

Yuutarou hadn’t said anything else. Instead, he pressed a kiss to Tobio’s temple. “Well, thank you for that.”

While they’ve had several take-out and fast-food dinners since they first reunited, this is the first time they’re eating at a restaurant together - like an actual date.

_ Holy fuck, it’s a date.  _ A real date that Tobio doesn’t mistake for a friendly dinner together.

Tobio hasn’t been on a date in a long time, and he feels clammy. He wasn’t this nervous for his tryouts. Although, volleyball comes naturally to him, so maybe that’s the case.

They sit in a booth together. Akira sits next to Tobio, while Yuutarou sits across from them. Usually, Akira sits next to Yuutarou, so it’s a weird but comforting experience when he sits next to Tobio this time around. Akira doesn’t pick up his menu and rests his head on Tobio’s shoulder, causing him to jump. He looks alarmed.

“Is this okay?” Akira asks.

Tobio nods. “Yeah, it’s fine. Do you… do you know what you’re going to eat?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Akira answers, “Yuu and I have been here before.”

Tobio turns to look at Yuutarou, who has a blush on his face. He looks back down at his menu and reads the list. He’s not entirely sure what to pick. “Do you have any recommendations?”

Yuutarou hums. “You like curry, right?”

“Yeah.”

“All of the curry rice dishes are good,” Yuutarou suggests.

Tobio settles for the pork curry rice, a familiar reminder of his late grandfather’s cooking.

(The dish doesn’t compare, but it does bring him a little bit of comfort.)

Akira continues lying on Tobio’s shoulder until the food arrives. He picks at Tobio and Yuutarou’s food with his chopsticks, but neither of them seems to mind. 

Yuutarou ends up finishing the leftovers so that they don’t have to carry boxes back to their apartments.

“Do you want to stay over?” he offers.

Tobio looks at him strangely. “What?”

Yuutarou repeats himself.

“Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t be offering if I wasn’t okay with it, dumbass,” Yuutarou retorts. “You’ve stayed over before anyway, stop being so tense about everything.”

Tobio huffs. “Yeah, okay.”

Akira holds both Tobio and Yuutarou’s hands. Yuutarou opens the door for them, and Tobio observes their apartment.

Tobio has the sudden realization that he’s never stepped foot past the living room.

Their apartment looks similar to Tobio’s, other than the furniture placement and other decorations. On the wall, there are several photos of Yuutarou and Akira, spanning from middle school up to now. Tobio notices some that include him in it. A small baby-faced version of himself hanging around Akira and Yuutarou before he became the King of the Court.

Tobio looks away from the picture once he feels his face heating up. He looks at Yuutarou and points to the photo. “You kept it?”

Yuutarou nods. “Yeah. I did. It’s from when we first met, of course I would keep it,  _ King.” _

Tobio laughs softly.

“We still cared about you, even if you were an ass,” Akira mumbles. He steps closer toward Tobio and presses a kiss to his cheeks.

If Tobio wasn’t blushing before, he’s surely blushing now.

Yuutarou grabs Tobio’s hands. His hands feel calloused and rough, in comparison to Akira’s cold hands. Tobio’s hands run warm and soft. 

Speaking of Akira’s cold hands, they run along the side of Tobio’s abdomen. Tobio starts giggling softly.

“Stop, stop, I’m ticklish,” he says through fits of laughter.

Akira smirks. “You love it.”

“Yeah, I do,” Tobio says.  _ And I love you,  _ he wants to add. He doesn’t, not yet anyway.

-

The next morning, Yuutarou offers to cook breakfast.

Akira lays his head on his back and wraps his arms around his waist while Yuutarou is cooking.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep again, we have things to do today,” Yuutarou says, “Now, get off, I’m trying to cook.”

Akira huffs and sticks his tongue out. He pulls a chair out and sits in front of Tobio. “He’s always crabby whenever he’s cooking.”

“You love him though,” Tobio says.

“Yeah. I do. I love him a lot,” Akira answers.

Tobio feels the same way. He doesn’t say it out loud, but Akira can tell that Tobio has already fallen in love.

He’s never fallen in love before. Hell, he hasn’t had romantic feelings for anyone else other than a brief idolization period - the way he liked Iwaizumi and Oikawa in middle school. Tobio, along with everyone else, finds that laughable now.

-

A few months pass. Tobio is preparing for his next season of volleyball, while Akira and Yuutarou are trudging along at work. They live together in Tobio’s apartment, as Akira and Yuutarou’s lease had ended recently.

(“Isn’t it too soon?” Tobio asked.

Akira shrugged. “I guess, but we’re always sleeping over at each other’s places anyway. Less money on rent, only one place where we can sleep. I don’t see why not.”

Tobio huffed and leaned in to kiss Akira anyway. Within two weeks, everything had been moved over to Tobio’s apartment,)

Yuutarou is on a business trip, and while he’d originally been against going - Akira and Tobio encouraged him to expand his connections.

Akira and Tobio spend their free time together, passing the time however they can. Tobio tries his hand at cooking one of Yuutarou’s dishes. It doesn’t go as well as he’d hoped, but it made for an awfully domestic memory of Akira wrapping his arms around his waist and playful teasing.

Now, they’re lazily making out with each other on the couch, a soft but soothing instrumental track in the background. Tobio can’t help but stare into Akira’s eyes.

Akira’s eyes are like stars, glimmering in the night. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and Tobio can see Akira’s soul clearly - passionate and full of love. His skin is soft, as if he never outgrew his soft baby cheeks from middle school. His jawline, however, his jawline is sharp and defined. It’s a reminder that despite the similarities from when they were younger, Akira and Tobio are not the same people they were before.

Tobio’s hand grazes Akira’s cheek, and he pushes Akira’s bangs away from his face before kissing him deeply.

Tobio feels nothing but love seeing Akira in front of him. “I love you,” he mumbles softly, pressing a kiss on the back of Akira’s hand. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” he repeats like a mantra, falling deeper and deeper after each syllable.

Now that he’s finally said ‘I love you’ to both of them, he hasn’t stopped. He finds ways to say it all the time. Akira and Yuutarou find this both endearing and embarrassing at the same time.

But even with all of the love he feels for Akira in this very moment, he thinks about Yuutarou. He thinks about how Yuutarou and Akira love him in different ways, both romantic and passionate, but wildly contrasting - where Yuutarou loves him roughly and Akira’s love is softer, gentler. Tobio has always been greedy and selfish, and now he is selfish in the way that he wants to love them both forever and always. The relationship doesn’t feel complete without both of them. It’s as if there is a Yuutarou-shaped hole in his heart, as cliche as that sounds.

He wants Yuutarou to come home, but logically, he knows that work is important. Only two more weeks.

“I miss Yuutarou,” he mumbles, and he can feel tears stinging in his eyes. He looks away from Akira, afraid that he’s ruined the moment, the calm between them. Scared that Akira is going to be upset with him, since it’s their time together.  _ Use your words, Tobio.  _ “I want him here. With us.” It’s been a week, and yet Tobio misses him deeply. 

Akira does nothing of the sort, instead wiping away the tears with his thumb and peppering kisses all over his face. When Tobio finally looks back at him, he sees Akira reassuring him. “I miss him too.”

Tobio will admit that he’s still not used to being in a polyamorous relationship, that’s it’s okay for him to love Akira and Yuutarou wholeheartedly. He feels awful that he’s still having hang ups, even after months of being together.

“It’s frustrating,” Tobio continues, “When Yuutarou comes back, I’m going to head overseas for more training, and then it’ll be tournament time and I won’t see you as much anymore.”

Akira smiles softly, empathetic. He plants another kiss on Tobio’s forehead. “We’ll be okay. We’ll call, and text, and we’ll stay in touch however we can. Promise.”

Before Akira can say anything else, his phone starts to ring. Akira picks it up from the coffee table, and he shows the screen to Tobio.

_ Yuutarou is calling… _

“I told you so,” Akira says, with a smug smirk on his face.

Tobio doesn’t even have the heart to be upset. He laughs slightly and takes the phone from Akira’s hand, pressing the ‘answer’ button.


End file.
